Architecture

ASMP has three parts. Each answers a different question.

The three parts

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Host Profile                         │
│  ~/.asmp/host.yaml                                       │
│  "What is this device? What is it allowed to do?"        │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Service Manifests                       │
│  ~/.asmp/services/*.asmp.yaml                            │
│  "What runs here? What can it do? How do I reach it?"    │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────┐
│               Registration Protocol                      │
│  http://127.0.0.1:7700                                   │
│  "How do agents register, discover, and extend?"         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1. Host Profile

A single document describing the device: hardware, OS, host capabilities, registry location, policy constraints, and observability endpoints.

Path: ~/.asmp/host.yaml (personal) or /etc/asmp/host.yaml (system)

Policy fields control what agents can do:

• agent_can_register — can agents add services?
• requires_approval — human review before provisioning?
• allowed_ports — port range agents may claim
• max_services — ceiling on registered services

Host profile spec →

2. Service Manifest

One YAML file per service. Written by the agent that built it. Contains identity, runtime, network endpoints, capabilities, data sensitivity, mods, observability, and display metadata.

Path: ~/.asmp/services/{name}.asmp.yaml

Service manifest spec →

3. Registration Protocol

A localhost HTTP API for CRUD on services, capability queries, mod attachment, and host profile access.

Default: http://127.0.0.1:7700

Registration API →

Registration flow

Agent builds service
    → writes .asmp.yaml manifest
    → POST /services
    → host validates (schema, ports, policy)
    → [optional] human approval
    → host provisions (plist, proxy route, logs)
    → service discoverable via GET /capabilities
    → other agents find it by capability
    → mods attach via POST /services/{name}/mods

Consumers

One inventory directory, many readers — each layer reads a different slice. See Three layers.

Consumer	Reads
Registry server	Manifests + health state
MCP bridge	Capabilities → tool definitions
Dashboard (macdash)	Display metadata, health
Supervisor (launchd)	Generated plists
Reverse proxy (Caddy)	Endpoint declarations
Policy engine (Knox)	Data sensitivity, approval rules
Memory layer (Omni)	What exists to index

Protocol stack

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Agents (Claude, Codex, custom)       │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  MCP (tools)  │  A2A (agent comms)   │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ASMP (host — declare & discover)    │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  launchd / systemd / Docker / k8s    │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Hardware                             │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

Composability with MCP and A2A →